The television giant, Sinclair Broadcast Group, is making a comeback in the form of rebranding their regional Fox Sports networks that are in the U.S.; it will fall under the banner of Bally Sports. The name comes from Sinclair’s new partner, Bally’s Corp., which is known for owning and operating several casinos across the country. Sinclair and Bally’s signed an agreement in November that gave Bally’s Corp. naming rights to the regional sports networks for the next decade.
Sinclair created and began airing a marketing campaign that is endorsing their role in distributing live games to fans and other pertinent sports content that will be on their local players and local teams. There will be more than $10 million that is spent this year alone solely on marketing and renaming the Bally Sports networks. The marketing created for this will include a launch campaign among other programs.
Where This Partnership Began
Sinclair Broadcast Group attained the 21 Fox Sports branded regional sports networks (RSNs) in 2019 from Walt Disney company… that deal is valued at over $10 billion dollars. There are a lot of things that are covered through the networks that are under Fox Sports: 16 teams in the National Basketball Association, 14 teams in Major League Baseball, 12 teams in the National Hockey League, and also more than 4,500 live events within a year. With that, Bally Sports will have 19 RSNs after the rebranding is done, including Bally Sports South that will include Fox Sports Tennessee, Fox Sports North Carolina & Fox Sports South Carolina.
Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Marketing Strategy
There will be $88 million paid from Bally’s to Sinclair over the course of 10 years for the naming rights. The naming rights will permanently take effect on March 31, just ahead of opening day for Major League Baseball season which is on April 1st. For a long-time media companies fought association with the prospect of gambling in terms of sports and the coverage they gave towards it, but that has all changed… they are making up for lost time now that more states are legalizing sports betting within the United States.
Online sports wagering and gaming services such as DraftKings & FanDuel along with casino operators have been spending huge amounts of money on advertising and sponsorships so they can gain new customers. One thing that has had an impact on this drive to advertise is the COVID-19 pandemic. A lot of sports networks have suffered from cord-cutting and it has been seen that ratings for live sports have dropped majorly with various leagues since competition has started back up.
Bally’s sports betting content that will be used will be combined into broadcasts. For now, actual sports betting will be kept separate, but you will still be able to find it through the Bally’s Bet platform that is run by the casino operator.
Near Future
It is a hope of Sinclair Broadcast Group that they can create a new media brand that will boost their local sports coverage with some additional content that is digital along with other experiences. They are in the process of hiring a team of writers so they are able to provide more coverage of the teams that are associated with the websites under the network.
The content that will be used will be editorial and will also be available on a new app that is Bally Sports branded. This app will include live streaming of games that fall under the umbrella, another video programming the company has and in time there will be interactive games that will be deemed “second-screen”. These games are meant to be played along with the live sports broadcasts as they’re going forward.
About Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country. Sinclair owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to more television stations than anyone and has affiliations with all the major networks. In addition, Sinclair is the leading local news provider in the country, as well as a producer of sports content. Sinclair owns a multicast network, four radio stations, and a cable network. Sinclair’s broadcast content is delivered via multiple platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and digital platforms. Sinclair, either directly or through its venture subsidiaries, makes equity investments in strategic companies. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. was founded in 1986, went public in 1995, and is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol SBGI.
Throughout our history, Sinclair Broadcast Group has been at the forefront of industry-changing events and technological advances. Our vision and first-to-market mentality drive our ‘next generation’ thinking; stimulating conversations, innovating through our expertise, and advocating for the development of technology and evolving business models.
As a leading over-the-air broadcast television company, our primary business is to engage consumers on multiple platforms with relevant and compelling news, entertainment, and sports content, and to provide advertisers and business efficient means and value to connect with our mass audiences. We recognize the vital role broadcast television plays in branding and local content delivery, and therefore strive to constantly be at the forefront of leading-edge technology and structures to advance the industry
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